Many, including development engineers, network administrators, and network testing organizations, have occasion to test the performance and scalability of wireless networks. The accepted practice for testing wireless networks is to install numerous computers with wireless network capability. This common practice is expensive as it driven by the cost of the many necessary computers, and the test setup is not easily configurable for a variety of user population sizes and data traffic loads.
There is accordingly an existing and continuing need for methods and hardware for testing wireless networks, which have the capability of significantly reducing the cost of the testing and which easily accommodate a wide variety of user populations and traffic loads.